We examine THV policy regarding such photographic images

Wednesday, President Barack Obama revealed his decision on the CBS television show 60 Minutes.

He told our nation that showing such photos would potentially inflame Muslim anger and create a national security risk.

The president also says he doesn't want them potentially used as 'propaganda tools.'

U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden early Monday. They stormed his compound in Pakistan, shooting him in the head and chest.

The photos have been described by several sources as gruesome, and they even sparked debate in the Obama administration. Many describe an effort to strike a balance between addressing doubt that it was bin Laden and unnecessarily offending the Muslim world.

Ultimately, the president decided to keep the photos sealed.

The entire debate pushed us to take a look at THV policy regarding such photographic images.

Normally, we do not show dead bodies or body bags on our air. But the magnitude of this death is such that we did examine whether we would break our own policy, because a blanket policy does not cover every circumstance.

Ultimately, we decided that we would stick with it.

We set this standard and we would not violate that, had the photos been released.

If they had been released, we may have provided a link to the government-issued photos here on our website, but we would not have shown the photos on our air.

Again, our goal is also to bring transparency to what we do, letting you in on how we cover the news.

Email THV's Dawn Scott at thvinsider@todaysthv.com and she will respond to your questions, comments, concerns, and criticisms in our THV Insider segment.